The present invention relates to track assemblies for track-laying vehicles and more particularly relates to bracketry for securing track support rollers to a track frame.
As a track chain operates, it impacts the track support rollers resulting in the generation of noise and vibration. It is common practice to mount the support rollers at evenly spaced locations along the track frame, and as the chain links impact thereagainst, a scalloped wear pattern occurs on the link rails. As the wear becomes more pronounced, the vibrations resulting from chain operation become more severe and accelerate the wear.
Up to now, designers have proposed ways of lessening the vibrations induced by the chain impacting the rollers by using resilient components in the mounting of the rollers. An example of such a mounting is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,492 issued on Dec. 25, 1956. Also, attempts have been made to minimize uneven track link wear by hard facing critical areas of the link rails. An example of such a link design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,855 issued May 11, 1976.
These prior art attempts have certain advantages; however, they have the disadvantage of being somewhat costly.